St Giles has secured six consecutive years of funding from the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership and the Police and Crime Commissioner. This funding ensures continued support for young people at risk of violence and exploitation. In 2024, St Giles supported 869 children and young people to move away from child criminal exploitation, so this latest investment expands their life-changing work, providing trusted mentors, early intervention services, and specialist programmes to guide young people away from harm and towards safer futures.
This continued funding ensures the delivery of vital intervention programmes across the West Midlands. The A&E Violence Navigator Service embeds caseworkers in hospitals across the region, reaching young people admitted with violence-related injuries. These moments of crisis provide an opportunity for intervention, offering support to those at risk of further harm or exploitation. Additionally, it facilitates community outreach support, ensuring continued care after hospital discharge.
In police stations, the In-Reach Police Custody Service helps young people in the immediate aftermath of an arrest, providing early intervention at a critical turning point. This support extends beyond custody, facilitating community outreach to ensure continued care and guidance after discharge. With this latest funding, the programme will expand to all seven police custody blocks in the region, helping more young people avoid reoffending and find safer paths forward.
Support for young women is at the forefront of the Expect Respect programme, which provides intensive, tailored support to girls and young women aged 11 to 18 who have been affected by exploitation, violence, and abuse. With a focus on Wolverhampton, the service helps individuals escape harmful situations and rebuild their lives.
Our Violence Reduction Partnership and myself, as Police and Crime Commissioner, are committed to tackling the root causes of violence and supporting people most at risk.
By continuing to fund the vital services provided by St Giles, we are ensuring that individuals receive the guidance and support they need to turn their lives around. This partnership is a crucial part of our mission, to build safer communities and provide opportunities for positive change across the region.
– Simon Foster, Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands
One of St Giles’ unique strengths is its peer-led approach, with many caseworkers bringing lived experience of the very challenges their clients face, allowing them to offer empathetic and impactful support. With personal histories involving gangs, exploitation, and the criminal justice system, these mentors bring unmatched credibility, building trust and offering real-life proof that change is possible.
The impact of this approach is not only life-changing but cost-effective. For every £1 invested in St Giles’ peer-led services, there is a social return of £8.541, reducing public spending by preventing future harm and reoffending.
At St Giles, we believe no one is beyond help. We’ve walked the same paths, faced the same dangers, and come out on the other side. Our mentors use their experiences not just to guide young people – but to inspire them.
We are forever grateful to the Violence Reduction Partnership and the PCC for their continued support to enable us to help the most vulnerable in our communities.
– Jade Hibbert, Business Development Manager for St Giles Midlands.
As youth violence and exploitation remain urgent challenges across the West Midlands, this continued partnership with the Violence Reduction Partnership and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner ensures that no young person is left behind.
St Giles Midlands remains committed to offering hope, safety, and second chances – and thanks to this funding, many more lives will be positively changed in the year ahead.
Further Reading
- West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership
- Child Criminal Exploitation – St Giles
- St Giles Midlands – St Giles